PSU Football hosts Western New England in Homecoming and Family Week game

PLYMOUTH, N.H. - The Plymouth State University
football team will host Western New England College this Saturday
in the Homecoming and Family Week contest at Currier Field.

The Panthers and Golden Bears will kick off at 1:00 p.m. in the
first meeting between the two school is 18 years. Plymouth State is
looking for its second straight NEFC Boyd Division victory, while
Western New England is looking to rebound from a loss to three-time
defending NEFC champion Curry.

PSU bounced back from a pair of disappointing losses to open the
season with a solid victory over UMass Dartmouth in last Saturday's
home opener. The Panthers grinded out 234 of their 243 total yards
on the ground, running the football on 64 of the 70 plays from
scrimmage. It was an excellent offensive balance, with running
backs Jeff Mack (21 carries, 86 yards, 1 TD) and
John DeMarco (22 carries, 75 yards, 2 TD) and QB
Tye Seastedt (17 carries, 63 yards) sharing the
load. PSU has held on to the football for an average of nearly 37
minutes a game this season. The Panthers are averaging 288 yards of
offense per game, while the defense gives up 272 yards per game.

WNEC, which finished 3-6 overall and 2-4 in the NEFC last year,
got off to a strong start this season with a pair of wins over
Westfield State and Maine Maritime before losing at Curry last
week. The Golden Bears had the opposite success as Plymouth State,
with 262 of their 282 yards coming through the air. Sophomore
Jordan Capitanio went over the 1,000-yard mark (1,028) in career
rushing, becoming the 10th player in school history to reach the
plateau. The WNEC offense averages 313 yards per game, while the
defense surrenders 280 yards per contest.

Saturday will be the first meeting between these two schools
since 1988, and the ninth overall. PSU and WNEC hooked up eight
straight years from 1981-88 and the Panthers took every game, all
by decisive scores. There were four shutouts and the Panther
defense limited WNEC to single digit points in the other four
encounters.

The Panthers will be on the road the next two weeks for NEFC
Boyd Division games at Endicott and Nichols before returning home
to host Curry on Oct 21. WNEC returns to Springfield, Mass., to
host UMass Dartmouth next Saturday.

NEFC LEADERS: All 16 teams are pooled together
for the NEFC team and individual rankings, and PSU is ranked second
in both rushing offense (208 yards/game) and rushing defense (112
yards/game). The Panthers are seventh in both total offense and
total defense.

WEEKLY HONORS: Two Panthers have received NEFC
weekly honors in the first three weeks of the season. RB
John DeMarco was named to the NEFC Honor Roll
after rushing for 100 yards in PSU's season-opening loss to Mount
Ida, and DB Dan Fallon earned the same honor after
making five tackles and an interception in last Saturday's victory
over UMass Dartmouth.

PSU IN THE NEFC: After beginning its football
program in 1970, Plymouth State was a member of the NEFC from
1971-91, winning or sharing nine titles in those 21 seasons. The
Panthers won or shared eight straight NEFC championships from
1981-88. PSU entered the 2006 season with the 11th-highest career
winning percentage (.633) among all NCAA Division III programs.

PSU AT CURRIER FIELD: The Panthers have enjoyed
plenty of success over the years at Currier Field, capturing over
two-thirds of the contests. Plymouth State now has an all-time home
record of 123-53-3 for a .696 winning percentage. PSU was 3-2 at
home last season.

PRESEASON ALL-AMERICA: Senior SS Dan
Fallon (Manchester, N.H./Central), the team's leading
tackler the past three years, earned Football Gazette Pre-Season
All-America honors in 2006. The 2003 Freedom Football Conference
Rookie of the Year after a 72-tackle season, Fallon has recorded
back-to-back 77-tackle seasons, collecting four interceptions and
five fumble recoveries along the way.

NEFC: The NEFC has 16 teams in two divisions in
2006. The regular season includes one game against each member of
its own division and one contest against a team in the other
division. PSU and Coast Guard play each other in the cross over
game in 2006 and 2007. The NEFC concludes the regular season with a
championship game between the first-place teams from each division,
this year on Nov. 11, with the winner receiving an automatic berth
in the NCAA Division III Championship Tournament.